April 17, 2012

Mom,
My homecoming week sounds great! Friday graduation, and then Monday Hawaii...I can do that. I'm sure there are a few good stories I could think of to tell.
We had success again last week with another baptism on Wednesday, Rizalini Acapulco. She just finished reading first Nephi. I love it when converts grasp on and work hard to strengthen their testimony. We just started working with another investigator, Bebes (nice name!), who is the friend of a member. She is 14, we think (forgot to ask) and was almost baptized at least twice. The first time her dad got mad, so the record says, and the second time her mom wouldn't sign the baptismal record authorizing it. Apparently her mom was just joking and was fine that she got baptized but Bebes thought she was serious. Latter her mom asked about her baptism and Bebes said she hadn't been baptized because her mom hadn't signed the form. Oops. So we are going to have to BRT (build relationship and trust) with the parents before the baptism this time. When Riza got baptized last week Bebes was really wishing she could be baptized too. All of the youth thought that Bebes was already a member because she goes to church and activities. She is friends with the entire ym and yw so no problems there.
Next Friday is transfers. Either Elder Galdonez or I will be transferring. He has become my favorite companion of all. He has also been with me for the longest, two and a half transfers. Ill let you know next week who transfers.
And now for the story. Today we are fasting as a zone. Last night we got a call from the zone leaders saying that we, as a zone, will be fasting for the investigator of the Assistants. He was a catholic priest who has been all over the world preaching and learning. His family is very catholic with his aunts and uncles in leadership positions. He has been converted his baptism was scheduled for today, but he has been taken by his uncle to an island way on the edge of the Philippines and locked up there. Apparently they found out he was going to be baptized and didn't approve. So we are fasting that he can get out of prison and be baptized. It is the best story I have heard of persecution here in the mission. We will watch the hand of the Lord work miracles for him.
I love you all. I am grateful to be a missionary. It is the best thing I have ever done.
Love,
Elder Schenk

April 11, 2012

Maayong gabii sa inyo tanan. How are you all doing? Sounds like you had a fun Easter and are doing great. Easter here in the Philippines is a little different. I actually forgot it was Easter until it was mentioned in a conference talk. I never heard the word Easter, and if you aren't Catholic you don't celebrate it. They call it holy week with each day having a special name and something that you do. They even take a few days off from work as a public holiday. And yes, some guys get nailed to the cross. They don't truly appreciate the Atonement and why Christ suffered for us.

Thinks are going well here in the mission. We are having a lot of success. We have a baptism tonight, Rizalini Alcapulco. We only started teaching her 2 weeks ago and originally planned her baptism for next Saturday, but she kept pushing it up until today. She is a great investigator. She is the cousin of the wife of our bishop and is living with them while she is on her break from schooling. Before she even moved here she had told her aunt that she wanted to be baptized. She had gone to a few different churches and decided that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true one. Elder Plania, who was my companion in Consolation, is her cousin and is in our district and Riza asked if he could baptize her. So he gets to do that.

And now for the Question and Answer part.
I loved the Talk in priesthood session from Elder Bednar who talked about his father joining the church. It addresses a lot of the concerns with the members here. I also loved all of the talks Sunday about parenting. Good parenting is soooo important. I can see a huge difference in the people I work with depending on how their parents raised them.

What did you do on Easter, have an Easter dinner somewhere?
Easter was like any other day. Nobody acknowledged it as Easter.

Did you get your package yet? Did you like the stuff in it? Did the chocolate melt all over?
I did get my package. It was great, and the chocolate made it just fine. Everyone was jealous that they didn't get one. I think they are just jealous that I have the best mother in the WORLD! Their moms didn't send them anything.

Sure Love you all! Take care,
Elder Schenk

April 4, 2012

Family,
(please correct the mistyped, miscapitalized or mispunctuated words, this keyboard has a few flaws...)
It has been a HOT week here in the Philippines! I am sweating and we are in an air conditioned room. It has been a great week though, one full of great surprises. The first surprise we had was on Sunday. We had 7 investigators and 12 less actives come to church! 7 of the less actives came for the first time in a few months. That was really exciting. It makes missionary work a lot of fun when you have success in bringing souls unto Christ. We also have 4 investigators with baptismal dates for April. They had all been for the 21st, but on Monday we had another surprise when Riza asked if she could move her baptismal date. She wants to be baptized sooner! Not a problem! She will be baptized on her grandfather’s birthday, Friday the 13. Hopefully everything goes well. Her cousin, elder Plania, who used to be my companion, is in our district and Riza asked if he could baptize her. That will be great.
The Ricafort family is doing great. They have been to church twice in a row and three of them have a baptismal date for the 21st, noel, the father, and his two daughters, Marjorie - 9, and Bella Mae - 8. The rest of their family is all members.

What shoes are you wearing for basketball? Did you end up buying tennis shoes?
I bought some used Nike’s for under $5. I have been using those. We play every week now. I am getting a lot better. That makes it fun. But you have to play early in the morning because by 9:00 it is too hot.

Can you get Eric one of those cool belts?
I did that a month ago. Anything else to buy? I asked about some pearls the other day. They have some deep sea pearls that are super expensive, about $80 for one pearl, or some lower quality ones that aren't perfect circles but are still good that are really cheap. You can buy a one foot strand (approximately) for $5-$10. But you have to make it yourself. I can get those for you if you would like.

Do you have any new ideas about what you want to study in college or what career you are interested in?
I have had a lot of ideas and was not planning on anything to do with computers, but the other day I decided electronics is what I love and am good at. I might try more on the making and repairing of hardware and not so much on the using the computer part. I can’t stare at a screen all day. I have also thought about finances or business.

What has been a blessing from serving your mission that you may not have mentioned before?
I think one of the greatest blessings has been what I wrote Eric about. I have learned how blessed I am and how important I must be to the plan of God, and how important it is for me to be the very best that I can be to fulfill my purpose. One of the prophets said that it should be a matter of pride that you will do more than anyone else, according to your individual capabilities, to further the kingdom of God on earth. He said that it has always been his goal to do his part here on earth. I have learned the importance of doing that.

I sure love you all. I’m excited for conference!
Love,
Elder Schenk

Dude what’s up little brother? Kamusta man ka dong?
So your all getting ready to head out to college like a big boy. Nice work. My keyboard sucks, by the way, so there may be a few errors, like capitalization of letters. Sorry. I’m super stoked for you to get out and experience life out of the good ol' sheltered Schenk home. Though college and my mission my eyes were opened after I saw bad parenting, drugs, drinking, breastfeeding in public, naked babies crying in the street, homeless families who live on the skywalk over the highway, broken homes, broken families, you really begin to see how wonderful your life is. When you get out you will realize that you are in the 99th percentile of "THE MOST BLESSED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD-- TEMPORALLY AND SPIRITUALY" category. Your parents rank among the very best. Don’t be like I was when I first went to college and not write the family or call home. That’s no way to thank your parents. I’ve repented. I write them a letter every week now and will continue that for a long time.
Take care. I love you to death!
Elder Schenk

Dad,

Hey send some of that cold weather this way. This has been the hottest week of my life! Check the temperature here in Cebu and let me know how hot it really is. Give me both Fahrenheit and Celsius. Is it up to 40c? It just hurts to be outside between 12:00 and 2:00.
Love you dad, enjoy skiing!
Love,
Elder Schenk

March 27, 2012

Hey family,
Things are going well here. We are having a lot of success with referrals in my area. That is so nice. We have two more baptismal dates for the end of April. Brother Noel Ricafort is a part member. His family was baptized back when they lived back in Mas Bati, another island here in the Philippines. He was the first one taught and believes the church is true, but was never baptized. On Sunday he came to church and brought his less active family with him. We have also had the bishop come with us to teach them and another member of the Bishopric. That has been great for fellowshipping. They live in a little one room house that was literally built on top of the metal roof of his brother's house. They have no electricity and have to go down their breaking weak ladder to get water. Sister Ricafort has some sort of illness that has caused her to become very skinny, she is practically skin and bones. She is also pregnant with her ninth child. They are such a kind quiet family. We brought different kinds of sweet bread and cookies when we had FHE with them on Monday and even the little kids were shy to eat them. Usually the kids here will do anything they can to get a bite of food. They are very humble.
Another investigator we have is from Mindanao, another island in the Philippines, who has been to church many times but has never been taught by the missionaries. She just moved into our bishop’s house this last week. She is the cousin of the bishop’s wife. We committed her for baptism on the first visit and she came to church on Sunday. I am grateful to be having so much success here.
Now for your weekly questions:
Have the new missionaries in your mission been in the MTC a shorter time?
As far as I know they are still there for 9 weeks.

When and where will you watch conference?
We watch conference the week after you on April 7th and 8th. We will go to our stake center in Labangon.

What kind of transportation do you usually use there in Capitol?
We ride geepnies (the long trucks with a bench going down both sides and no back door) and hubble hubble (motorcycle) here.

 
Have you taken pictures of your apartment?
Yes, just for you Mom.

Do you give the new member discussions or does a member of the ward?
We give them. We are now responsible for teaching our recent converts until they get to the temple for their endowment and family sealing.

How do you like the new shoes we sent awhile back?
They are great! I am down to them and the Rockports you bought me for my 19th birthday. The Rockports are my favorite. They are still comfortable! The Bass ones you bought me for Christmas are holding up great here in the city.

Sure love you guys. Take care. See you in a few months.
Love,
Elder Schenk

March 20, 2012

Good evening Family,
We are doing good here in Capitol. Elder Galdonez and I get along really well. We laugh a lot. He is also a good teacher, so that helps a lot. Our recent converts are doing great! They pay tithing and are receiving callings and the priesthood. It’s great. Delia has almost finished 2 Nephi and Flor is somewhere in the Alma 20's. They love to read. I figure Flor read almost half of the Book of Mormon in just over a month! For all you members out there, are you also hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Let each of us daily drink deeply from the living water found in the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon--which above and beyond any other book will change our lives and bring us to the Savior. "Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him" (Moroni 10:32).

I’ll answer your questions now.
Your shirts look nice and white, so you must be doing a good job on your laundry. Do you go to the laundromat?
I usually take my laundry to the laundryman because there is just no time to wash your clothes by hand. There are much better things you can do with your time. We have about 6 options within walking distance of our apartment for laundrymans. The city is great that way.

Do you cook much in the city or mostly eat out? What do you eat these days?
When I first transferred here we ate out almost every meal. Now with two new Filipinos who know how to cook we rarely eat out. It’s cheaper and tastes better. We eat a lot of pork, usually with a sauce, or in soup. Sometimes there are vegetables too, which I love. It is always over rice. Sometimes at night we get BBQ which just means they shishkabob pork meat and fat and liver and chicken meat and skin and heads and feet and intestines or hot dogs or other byproducts that I’m sure aren't good for you but taste good. Then you put sweet ketchup on it and dip it in a soy sauce, vinegar, lime, and pepper sauce that you make as spicy as you can possibly stand. It’s good. For breakfast we usually have sweet cheesy hot dogs or eggs or ham or corned beef.

What have you been doing for P days lately?
That depends on where you are assigned. For p-day activities in the city we usually go to the Cebu zoo. In the mornings we usually play basketball at the church by the temple. We also go to Carbon which is the biggest market in Cebu where you can get second hand clothes and souvenirs and homemade Filipino stuff.

What day do you plan on arriving home?
I think we fly out on June 7 here. We will probably be getting home June 8 early in the morning in America. We haven't gotten our flight plans yet so I don't know for sure. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

I like the question and answers. It gives me ideas on what to write about. Keep it up.
Take care, Love you all,
Elder Schenk

March 12, 2012

This letter came in the mail along with a cd full of pictures posted on page 4 of this blog.
Family,
I'll write one in English and one in Visaya so you can translate.  Here is the last thing that I will send home from the Philippines before I come home.  I have another 4 gig sd card that should be full by the time I get home.  I am doing great here in the Philippines.  I love serving a mission so much.  No doubt, it is the best thing I have ever done.  Each day I learn something new.  I have learned to love the Book of Mormon so much.  I used to have a favorite person, but now I have a ton!  Captain Moroni is my favorite. But I also love Abinadi, Nephi the son of Helamon, Jacob, Alma the Elder and Younger, there are so many heroes to choose from.  If you ever get bored, just read the Book of Mormon. 
Sure love you all, Take care,
Elder Schenk (I'm going to miss this name in 3 months)

March 13, 2012

March 13, 2012

Thanks for your email Mom, it is always fun for me to hear about the little things that go on in your lives. I don't have any of that here. You mentioned that President Kaopua spoke in your conference, what is his calling now? I seem to forget a lot of the details of home while on the mission. I have almost put away completely thoughts of home while here. It helps you to not get trunky.
Our baptism on Saturday went great! Kristy is the girlfriend of Allen, one of the more active members of the ward. His Father is the first counselor in the temple presidency here. They put on quite a show and a lot of people attended. Our recent converts who were baptized just the week before, Flor and Delia, brought their investigator friend, who we have had a hard time teaching because of schedules and such, and she had a great time at the baptism. They walked there as 3 families with seven kids running around. The investigator felt the spirit tell her to keep investigating, praying and reading, and then to apply what she learned. She is progressing now, we are just working on the husband. Flor has read up to Alma 20 in the Book of Mormon. He just started a month and a half ago. Delia is now in 2 Nephi. They are doing great. Flor will receive the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday.
This Friday is transfer day and we found out today that neither of us will be transferring. We get to focus on Capitol together for at least one more transfer.
I am glad you got my pictures. I’ll have at least another 4 gigs when I return home. I have been taking a lot of pictures lately.
Sure love you all. Take care,
Elder Schenk

March 7, 2012

Family,
We had and exciting weekend with two baptisms, Delia and Flor. They were so prepared. They love the gospel so much. They have both had rough lives with many relationships and have finally found the companion that they want to spend eternity with and, even more, they have found the gospel and dedicated themselves too it. What great examples! I honestly wish I could be more like them. President Schmutz came with his wife and also the APs and the office couple. That was fun. We had a good program. I was able to baptize Flor.
We have another baptism scheduled for this Saturday, Kristy Medellin. She is the girlfriend of a member in the ward. She has graduated from college as a doctor and is now doing her internship at the best hospital in the area, which just happens to be in my area. She is really smart and learns fast. In all of the lessons she may have had two questions. Her boyfriend, Allen, will baptize her.
Let the YW know I got their package. Tell them thank you. It was fun.
Take care. Have fun with Katie while she is visiting.
Love,
Elder Schenk

February 28, 2012

Family,
Things are going well here. It sounds like it has been cold back home, cold and rainy and tons of snow in the mountains. That's great for skiing! Someone turned the heater on really hot here in Cebu. The last week it has been scorching hot! Last night we went into a lesson sweating and about halfway through the lesson we had thunder (dog-dog, the "o" is the same sound as in "do", cool word in visaya) and lightning and pouring down rain. The weather changes fast here. Usually if it is really hot in the morning that means it will rain really hard in the afternoon.
Sounds like you are making some good progress in the North Wing. I am really excited to see it.
And now about Eric. I heard you got accepted to BYU Utah. Nice work. You can still come to BYUI with me if you want. That would be sweet! And you can also transfer back to BYU someday. You just have to be careful when you pick classes, some aren't transferable. Carson wants to come with us, so that would be a lot of fun. Though, I don't think I'll get a jeepney when I get home. The back windows don't close, not good for the cold weather. Great for transporting 20 people though!
The music you sent me, mom, was not mp3, but I had a member convert it for me, so I can listen to it. If you haven't sent me the package yet just don't worry about sending it. I don't need anything and will be home soon anyways. Save some money on postage, put it in savings, and retire a day earlier.
We are so excited because we have 2 baptisms this Saturday and another the next! It has been a long time since my last baptism, I am well overdue! I can't wait! This week is Delia Baylosis and Flor Poso's baptism. Next week is Kristy Medellin.
Take care way back there in America.
Love you all,
Elder Schenk

February 21, 2012

Pamilia,
Maayong gabii sa inyo tanan. We are doing well here in Capitol. We have two baptisms coming up on March 3, Flor and Delia. They are such great investigators, probably the best I have had my entire mission. Flor came to priesthood session of Stake Conference on Saturday and they both came with Their young son for the Sunday session. They have read every assignment and kept every commitment we have given them. They understand everything we teach the first time we teach it and directly apply it in their lives. Delia is in her 40s and Flor is in his 50s and they keep thanking us young missionaries for teaching them. They feel so ignorant even though they are well learned as to things of the world. Flor is an engineer and is really smart. It is such a miracle that we can be the ones teaching them, and not the other way around. I feel so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel in my life and to have been raised with it in my family. What an incredible blessing. And even more, I am a 6th generation member of the only true and living church upon the earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, from multiple ancestral lines. How many people can say that?
You asked last week about the candy here. They do eat cough drops all the time, especially the little kids. They love anything that is menthol flavored, even shampoo and soap. The classic snack here is a roll with Coco-Cola. Even the babies drink it here. They have bakeries everywhere with tons of styles of bread. We stop for a bread snack about 3 times a day. You can get a roll for P5. They also like shrimp flavored puff things and chicharon, pig fat that is fried until it gets hard and crunchy, its pretty good, just expect an early heart attack! They even have fake chicharon that is just a flavored cracker. They also eat a lot of hot dogs for breakfast, but they are sweet and they die them red. You eat them with rice and put soy sauce or sweet ketchup on them.
Amping lang mo. Kita lang ta sa sunod.
Love you,
Elder Schenk

February 14, 2012

Family,
We had a great week and saw many miracles here in the Capitol Ward. Our investigators, Delia and Floro, are doing great. They came to church again this week and are rapidly progressing. Floro comes home at night and just reads anything he can get his hands on, Ang Aklat ni Mormon (The Book of Mormon in Tagalog), pamphlets, the gospel principles book, he loves it all. Sister Delia is just a ball of faith. I love them both. Floro stopped drinking and smoking the first time we met with him. We didn't commit him or even talk to him about it, he just decided it was the right thing to do. Last night we taught them about the Word of Wisdom. They were surprised to hear that tea and coffee are bad for the body. They drink coffee every morning, but said starting the next morning they wouldn't drink it anymore! They are like one of those great investigators you would hear about in the Liahona. They are the best investigators I have had in my entire mission!
Valentines day is also big in the Philippines, but nobody has the money to really celebrate. There was a lot of red yesterday though.
We got to go to the temple today. That was a long overdue pleasure! I haven't been able to go the last few months due to temple cleanings and such. But today was so nice and peaceful. I learned a lot.
I love you all. Work hard. Focus on the important things in life and put the most important things first on your schedule. Don't shirk in your church callings but do all you can to magnify them. One person makes a HUGE difference and when they don't do their part everything seems to fall apart. Keep working hard and enduring to the end. You're not done until you die, and your not dead yet. If you will, great blessings await you. (see 2 Nephi 31:19-21, Mosiah 2:41)
Love you all! Amping!
Elder Schenk

February 8, 2012

I am online now if you want to chat a little. Ill be on for the next hour or so.

Elder Schenk

We are fine. We got the earthquake and everyone freaked out that their would be a tsunami and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, but we had no damage here. They were just concerned after what happened in Japan. Dumagete in Negros got a decent dose. They have some broken roads and fallen homes. We had just gotten home from district meeting so we just waited it out in our nice strong house. Ill write you a longer email in a minute.

E. Schenk

Nope our pday didnt change, we have just been priveleged with general authorities visiting the last two weeks. We had Elder Ardern yesterday. I'll tell you about it in a bit. We should be back to emailing on wednesdays next week.

ES

Family,

We have had a great week here. Yesterday we had the opportunity to have another member of the area presidency, Elder Ardern, visit us for our zone interviews yesterday and he interviewed us all. That was a great experience. It was great to feel of his spirit and to be able to learn from him one on one. I have now been able to meet all three members of the area presidency multiple times. There are some great perks to being a missionary.

We have had some great success in our area this week as we had seven investigators come to church and also seven less active members there as well. The attendance was the highest I have seen it in the last two months. It made for a great fast Sunday. And then we had a member, Brother Samson, feed us mashed potatoes and pork chop for dinner. That was delicious as well.

We are grateful for the progress we are having with Delia and Floro. They are both new investigators and have almost been taught for two weeks now. The wife, Delia, came to church the day after we visited her for the first time. The husband then started joining in the lessons and came last week. President Byram, 2nd councelor of the Cebu Philippines Temple, sat next to Floro in priesthood meeting and told me yesterday when I saw him that he thinks that Floro will be baptized. He jut felt good about him. I feel good about him too. Last night as we taught them about faith and repentance and explained what they need to do to get baptized, I felt such a peace come over me assuring me of their sincerity in receiving the gospel. They have a baptismal date for March 3. Pray for them.

Sister Ruiz and her four kids also came to church for the first time on Sunday. Brother Ruiz had work, but he should be there next Sunday. They need to get baptized too.

Ill try to get the picture dvd made this week. I found a place to get it done. I would also love general conference on SD. Just make sure that it is in mp3 format or my player wont read it.

Love you all,

Elder Schenk

Here are some pictures. Amping! Elder Schenk

Brother Enriquez and I and the Coltura family after an FHE.

 Me in my new area!

 My district here. Back row from L to R: Elder Del Norte, Elder Tingabngab (I really struggle to say that one), Elder Schenk, Elder Galdonez (my comp), Elder Parkinson. Front Row L to R: Sister Surisetty (From India), Elder Villegas, and Sister Welling.

Amping!

Elder Schenk